South Africa Retail Sales Unexpectedly Drop in December

(Bloomberg) --

South African retail sales unexpectedly fell in December as general dealers’ trade dropped.

Retail sales decreased by 0.4% from a year earlier, compared with an expansion of 2.6% in November, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Wednesday in a report on its website. The median estimate of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey was for a 2% increase.

Key Insights

• The drop in sales adds to negative economic data for the fourth quarter after factory output plunged in December and the unemployment rate remained at an 11-year high. Utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. implemented the deepest power cuts yet at the end of 2019 and that weighed on economic activity.
• Sales were 3.1% lower than in November when Black Friday trade boosted business and many consumers front-loaded their usual festive-season shopping.

--With assistance from Renee Bonorchis, Jacqueline Mackenzie and Simbarashe Gumbo.

To contact the reporter on this story: Prinesha Naidoo in Johannesburg at pnaidoo7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Rene Vollgraaff at rvollgraaff@bloomberg.net, Helen Nyambura

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